Simon Reeve - One Day in September. The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge...

A page turner Goes somewhat further [than the documentary], offering background notes on Jewish and Palestinian history and the Black September group, and Reeve fleshes out the long aftermath of the affair,in which Israels Mossad agents took revenge over a period lasting almost twenty years. Highly skilled and detailed.

The New Yorker

The strength of Reeves book is that it starts from the beginning. It details not only the crisis itself, but also the historical background that led to the crisis. It is an important book, a thorough primer on the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian standoff.

Chicago Tribune

Simon Reeve pulls off another master stroke.

Village Voice

[A] controversial, engrossing new account of the slaughter. The governments of Israel and Germany have criticized Reeves book for exposing state secrets; he may have done so, but he avoids passing judgement on any one group. Instead, he tries to show why the countries and people involved felt compelled to act the way they did, even when their actions led to horrible consequences.

Time Out New York

Powerful recounts in horrifying detail the tragedy that claimed the lives of 11 Israelis. One Day in September describes the savagery of the Black September Palestinian terrorists and the monumental ineptitude of the German forces that tried to rescue the hostages at Frstenfeldbruck airfield.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Written with all the pace of a thriller, this is a genuinely moving account of one of the most tragic, and shameful, episodes of recent history. Excellent.

Birmingham Post

Fascinating a gripping account which reads like a thriller. Reeve is a very thorough investigator, and the book encompasses German archives, news programs, quotes, decisions, and international reactions.

Jewish Book World

A gripping, often moving, account of the bloodiest sports day on record.

Jewish Chronicle

Simon Reeve captures the essence of the slaughter. One Day in September is the inside story told by those who were present .The book is easy to read, even with obscure political and religious references.

Daytona Beach News-Journal

A splendid, disturbing and gripping account of these events and the worlds reactions Stands among the best of its kind.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A comprehensive and unsettling account Reeves book is an important one since it deals with many issuesterrorism, anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, and Middle East unrest.

Library Journal

An exhaustively-researched account of the hostage-taking drama which deteriorated into an unmitigated nightmare.

Canadian Jewish News

Brilliant investigation a master class in investigative journalism.

International Herald Tribune

This astonishing record of the massacre at the Munich Olympics should be compulsory reading. I read in one sitting the gripping narrative.

Daily Mail,London

His account is rounded and gripping. A very moving testimony.

Financial Times

Explosive.

Observer,London

In this gripping and very moving account based on newly released documents, Reeve shows how official incompetence and indifference sealed the fate of the hostages, all of whom died in a botched rescue attempt.

Scotland on Sunday

A compelling investigation This book is both a journey back in time to an event many people know aboutbut that very few know enough aboutand an excellent insight into why these terrible events happened and how the subsequent tit for tat revenge operations affected both sides in the conflict.

Sunday Business Post, Ireland

Copyright 2000, 2011 by Simon Reeve
Epilogue copyright 2006, 2011 by Simon Reeve

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-61145-035-4

Printed in the United States of America

1 The 1972 Israeli Olympic Squad (photo Rosa Springer)

2 Yossef Gutfreund, Israeli wrestling referee

3 Andre Spitzer, Israeli fencing coach, and his bride Ankie (photo Ankie Rekhess-Spitzer)

4 Andre Spitzer and his baby Anouk (photo Ankie Rekhess-Spitzer)

5 Jacov Springer (photo Rosa Springer)

6 Yossef Romano, Israeli weightlifter (photo Ilana Romano)

7 Jacov Springer and Yossef Romano, weightlifting judge and weightlifter (photo Rosa Springer)

8 The Olympic Village, constructed to house more than ten thousand athletes

9 The Star of David is carried into the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Munich Games

10 Israeli delegates visit a performance of Fiddler on the Roof in Munich (photo Rosa Springer)

11 The Israeli wrestling team: Gad Tsabari, Mark Slavin, Moshe Weinberg (coach), and Eliezer Halfin (photo Gad Tsabari)

12 Nahr-el-Bared camp near Lebanon, home to six thousand Palestinian refugees in 1952 (United Nations Relief and Workers Agency, photo Myrtle Winter-Chaumeny)

13 Jalazone camp on the West Bank in the early 1950s (United Nations Relief and Workers Agency)

14 Jamal Al-Gashey, aged nineteen

15 Mohammed Safady, photographed after his capture by the Munich police

16 Adnan Al-Gashey, photographed after his safe return

17 Afif Ahmed Hamid

18 Khalid Jawad

19 The entrance to the Israeli building by which the terrorists entered (photo Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH)

20 German police and border guards arriving at the Olympic Village

21 Connollystrasse, the pedestrianized street in the Olympic Village in which the Israeli delegation was housed

22 Issa, the commander of the Black September attackers, during the daylong siege

23 The terrorist leader Issa begins dictating terms to Manfred Schreiber, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and Village mayor Walther Trger

24 Senior German officials in Connollystrasse after negotiations with the terrorists

25 Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Issa, and Walther Trger walk along a road under the Israeli delegation building during the evening of the siege

26 & 27 The aftermath of the firefight at Frstenfeldbruck airfield outside Munich which ended with the deaths of all the hostages

28 Frstenfeldbruck airfield at dawn after the battle

29 The body of terrorist Khalid Jawad at Frstenfeldbruck airfield